Faults:

Water leaks in through the sunroof and has caused the sun roof to open and has also contaminated the remote central locking.

General Comments:

This has been the most reliable citroen that I have owned.

The handling is good for such a big car and although I have replaced all the spheres the ride is nothing spectacular!

The build quality is good with a galvanised body shell.

Faults:

The sunroof leaks in through the interior light and then switched the sunroof open. Also this damaged the remote central locking sensor and now does not work.

I also had to replace all of the spheres to regain the ride.

General Comments:

I wanted to buy a Xantia, but an XM was half the price.I'm glad I did the ride quality is superb and has loads of space and is cheap to run. I get around 32 miles per gallon, so far I have not had any breakdowns. Only the XM has hydractive suspension which shows when you drive the car hard on country lanes it sticks like glue, the foot brake was a bit scary at first, but there is always something unusual about Citroen's it's part of their charm!

Faults:

Head gasket had gone when I bought the car, unfortunately I didn't know about it, so after I had it repaired at a cost of £500, I wrote to the previous owner telling him of the cost, he sent me a cheque for £200 towards the cost.

Bad earth on the rear lights caused intermittent warning lights to come on, easily fixed.

Starter motor solenoid doesnt always work first time, has been like this since I bought the car, but always starts after a couple of turns of the key.

Front pads wear out at an alarming rate due to sticking calipers, so have had new ones fitted at a cost of £130. Plus new discs at £25 each.

New exhaust, cost £200.

New comfort spheres fitted at £30 each corner, nothing wrong with the old ones, but found the ride a bit hard, I now put the suspension into sports mode for a stiffer ride if needed.

Car takes a while to rise after being left for a couple of days, so maybe a new hydraulic pump is needed, about £40.

General Comments:

Car has never let me down, and after 40000 miles in 2 years I`m still loving it.

Driven carefully I have achieved over 50 miles to the gallon, just under 40 is the average.

Gearbox is real crap especially when cold, apparently normal but I have driven other XMs which were much better. Autos are nicer, but cost a fortune to repair, and apparently they all need repairing sooner rather than later.

My next car will be another XM, nobody likes them so they are dirt cheap second hand bargains.

Faults:

Front brake hoses replaced for MoT.

Accumulator Sphere replaced.

Hydraulic system flushed and LHM renewed.

N/S rear window lift cable snapped, replaced easily with bicycle brake cable.

Clarion rad/cass not working on one channel on tape. Replaced head pre-amp module (Pulled from scrap unit).

Exhaust to manifold springs weak causing blow. Added washers to take up slack.

Slight sunroof leak in heavy rain.

Intermittent windscreen wipe not working.

Paint on bonnet crazed, struck by lightning.

General Comments:

Don't buy an old XM. Wait long enough and somebody will give you one. This one was given to me by a complete stranger who wanted it out of the way.

It had a reasonable service history, new spheres all round, new cat and exhaust, recent clutch and cam belt.

The guy gave up when it stuck in 2nd gear. Actually it hadn't. One of the operating rods had come adrift, took a minute to find and less to fix.

Passed MoT first time.

I've just come back from a week in Cornwall and covered 1500 miles without problems. For the first time in my life though, I did sign up to a recovery service.

All repairs and servicing done by myself, even the electronics if necessary.

Interior is perfect. Exterior has a few small scrapes. Remember the price though!

Quiet, fast and supreme comfort with very strong, rust resistant body.

Faults:

Dip head lights sometimes only work if I flick main beam on first.

Brakes slow to release/bind a bit.

General Comments:

Executive car for run-about money.

33 - 35mpg.

Huge interior, fitted a 2.00m by 1.00m window in the back and could still shut the boot!!!

Can them buy so cheap that if it ever goes wrong I can scrap the car and buy another.